Chidambaram criticised Meghalaya Governor Tathagata Roy and others who said they think that Kashmiris have no place in India.

Congress leader and former Union minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday criticised Meghalaya Governor Tathagata Roy who had tweeted in support of boycotting “everything Kashmiri” following the Pulwama attack, in which 40 armed forces personnel were killed.

“The Statue of Unity watches over the Governor of Meghalaya and others who seem to think that Kashmiris have no place in India,” Chidambaram tweeted. Chidambaram was referring to the massive Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel statue in Gujarat’s Narmada district.

Chidambaram said: “The irony of the situation is depressing. We want Kashmir to be part of India, but we do not want Kashmiris to be part of Indians.”

Responding to the Human Resource Development ministry refuting reports on alleged harassment of Kashmiri students, Chidambaram asked if all the news reports were fake. “Does the Human Resource Development Minister not consider Kashmiri students as human?” he tweeted on Thursday. “And a resource? And entitled to study anywhere for their own development?”

There were reports of several Kashmiri students being harassed and beaten up in Dehradun over the weekend, days after 40 Central Reserve Police Force officers were killed in a suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama. Since then, many Kashmiri students in Uttarakhand have temporarily left the state. According to a report in The Hindu, nearly 300 Kashmiri students have fled to Jammu and Delhi from colleges in Uttarakhand after large-scale eviction from their campuses.

The irony of the situation is depressing. We want Kashmir to be part of India, but we do not want Kashmiris to be part of Indians.